Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I love to see the aliens arrive over Mount Shasta on certain days. These clouds (lenticular clouds) look like some sort of space ship or alien craft.Lenticular clouds, technically known as altocumulus standing lenticularis, are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, normally aligned at right-angles to the wind direction. Lenticular Clouds Over Mount Shasta.

Monday, January 26, 2009

My route included Alturas and Tulelake today and they are still moving potatoes in Tulelake. This truck is at the "potato washer". These trucks have been on the roads for quite some time during harvest at Cal-Ore Potatoes but this is the first time I have been able to get a shot at the potato washer.It was quite cold here today, notice the iced weeds in the foreground. Click the image for a larger picture.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Saturday, January 17, 2009

I was in Tulelake again on Friday and it was great to see the sun. The last few days when I had been here the area was fogged in with an icy fog. The watershed is pretty much frozen over and there are very few waterfowl left now.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES BROKEN FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVEDAY ACROSS THE SACRAMENTO AND NORTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEYS...

SUNSHINE AND UNSEASONABLY MILD TEMPERATURES CONTINUE TO PREVAILACROSS THE VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON. A PERSISTENT AND UNSEASONABLYSTRONG LARGE SCALE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSUREREMAINS PARKED OVER THE WEST COAST.

1. HIGH TEMPERATURE AT THE REDDING AIRPORT THIS AFTERNOONWAS 78 DEGREES WHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD HIGH FORTHE DAY OF 76 DEGREES SET IN 1976.

2. HIGH TEMPERATURE AT THE RED BLUFF AIRPORT REACHED 78DEGREES WHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD HIGH FOR THE DAYOF 74 DEGREES SET IN 1976.

3. HIGH TEMPERATURE AT THE SACRAMENTO EXECUTIVE AIRPORTREACHED 68 DEGREES WHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD HIGHFOR THIS DATE OF 67 DEGREES SET IN 1966.

4. THE STOCKTON AIRPORT HIGH TEMPERATURE REACHED 67 DEGREESWHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD HIGH FOR THIS DATE OF65 DEGREES SET IN 1981.

5. HIGH TEMPERATURE AT THE MODESTO AIRPORT REACHED 68 DEGREESWHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD HIGH FOR THE DAY OF 65DEGREES SET IN 1968.

It was especially strange to see the massive fog bank hanging around Tulelake after our weather in Redding has been in the 70's this week. The fog was quite dense and the plants and trees look like Jack Frost had been there.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The McCloud River makes its way into Lake Shasta near Gilman Road. If the dry weather persists through the spring, officials say the lake could match or pass its record low in the fall. Dry winter weather is not what those who manage Lake Shasta want to see.

Last year, the lake dipped to a 16-year low. This year, the reservoir could come close to its record low if sunshine keeps trumping rainfall in what typically is the north state's storm season.

"We are just really, really waiting on rain," said Sherri Harral, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Reclamation's Northern California Area Office. So far it just hasn't happened.

Shasta Dam averages 11.3 inches of rain in January, she said. Halfway through this January, only a quarter of an inch has fallen. And forecasters don't predict a weather reversal in the next week and a half.

"We don't see anything out there right now," said George Cline, a forecaster for the National Weather Service's Sacramento office. He said the recent springlike weather is a contrast from the north state's usually rainy winter. "This is the most productive period, normally," Cline said. Rainfall is particularly important for Lake Shasta.

Although snowy Mt. Shasta is nearby, Harral said snowmelt plays a small part in filling the lake. She said the lake is 90 percent filled by rainfall. On Tuesday, Lake Shasta was at 150 feet below its high waterline, said Larry Ball, the bureau's operations chief at Keswick Dam, which regulates releases from Shasta Dam.

If the dry weather trend continues throughout the spring, he said, the lake could be down to 230 feet by the end of October — nearly matching 1977's record low of 230.32 feet. Such a drop could all but stop the bureau's power production at Shasta Dam, Ball said.

If the water drops to 240 feet below the crest, he said, there is not enough to turn the turbines at the base of the dam. Already the current low conditions have slashed power produced by the turbines nearly in half, he said.

At full production, they can produce 725 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power about 725,000 homes, Ball said. Currently — at 150 feet below the crest — they're producing 450 megawatts, or enough to power 450,000 homes.

Last fall, Lake Shasta reached 157 feet below the high watermark, then started to rise after an influx of rainstorms. It had been rising since, but the dry weather has changed that, Harral said. "We are letting out what is coming in," she said.

While a typical year sees 62 inches of rainfall at the dam, she said this could be the third dry year in a row. There were 47 inches of rain last year and 37 in 2007. To fill the lake, Harral said it'd take an exceptionally wet year with 70 to 80 inches of rain.

Although that might seem impossible now, she said February and March have had more than 30 inches of rain in the past, but those totals came during much wetter patterns. "We've had a miracle February and March before," Ball said. "But a full month of January without much rain is not a good omen."

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Yesterday my route went to the Alturas area including Cedarville and Davis Creek. You cross over Cedar Pass on the way to Cedarville and the mountains are quite beautiful with the snow pack. The roads were clear which is a good thing as this 6300 foot pass gets pretty slippery with ice and snow.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

I love to see the aliens arrive over Mount Shasta on certain days. These clouds (lenticular clouds) look like some sort of space ship or alien craft. The first picture is taken from Weed, the second is taken from Mount Shasta City about 15 minutes later. (see map)

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

On Monday it was very foggy going over Hatchet Mountain, but probably better than driving in a blizzard. When I got to Adin the streets were still thick with the last snowfall. Today coming over Mount Hebron summit and heading towards Macdoel there was the end of the rainbow that people search for to find that pot of gold. It was raining and misty on the top of Hebron but sunny and clear a little further down the road.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

It seems that McCloud always has it's own weather. Perhaps because it sits at the bottom south side of Mount Shasta. I delivered there on Friday and it is very pretty aside from the slippery and snow covered roads.